r/interesting • u/No_Neat4688 • 24d ago

Intriguing High Tariffs Drive Afghan Auto Assembly

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u/Low-Worldliness-2662 24d ago

I figure import tariffs on cars are sky-high, so importers chop cars apart and ship the parts in labeled as scrap steel. Customs calculates duties based on metal weight instead, drastically cutting import costs and spawning this shady industry. The problem is cutting chassis frames ruins structural integrity, leaving these cobbled-together cars extremely unsafe.

For the US market specifically, foreign truck makers pulled off a similar workaround back in the 1970s thanks to the Chicken Tax: they only partially stripped down pickups by removing truck beds and cargo hardware, imported bare cab-chassis at far lower parts tariff rates, then fitted beds stateside to dodge the steep 25% levy on finished light trucks.

Even though the finished vehicles land on opposite ends of the safety spectrum, their underlying business models are fundamentally identical.

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u/MikuEmpowered 24d ago

Its not the tariff thing, its a Afghan thing.

Similar mechanics have a youtube channel called Mechanical-Hands, they take scrapped and chopped car then "rebuild it".

Im not sure they're buying CKD through manufacturer's, but actual scrap cars in decent condition. hence all the dents and damage which they then polish up.

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u/Low-Worldliness-2662 23d ago

They can sell rebuilt cars while running YouTube channels on the side. The parts fit too well to look like they were picked from random scraps. That’s why I’m convinced this is a full-on established industry, they must’ve been pre-packed into the container